I’ve been a fan of Vampire Weekend for a long-ass time now. And, yes, I know they’re like the Brown University of indie rock. Or more so the Columbia University since, you know, they all met there. Hardly gritty. Hardly street. But smart, savvy and globally aware. In fact, they’re a Montclair band through and through. Well, Glen Ridge, I suppose, since Ezra Koenig is from there. But Glen Ridge is basically like Montclair’s vestigial limb. Or it’s t’aint. I’ll be cordial and call it a suburb of Montclair. Which is why Koenig, when he wasn’t hanging out in the actual City as a younger man, hung out in Montclair. The site of this show at The Wellmont Theater on their leg of the Only God Was Above Us tour. An album I absolutely love.
The point is, Vampire Weekend is not a tough band. They’re a cerebral band that has influences that span cultures and literary illusions and obscure NYC artifacts. They are not punk. Hell, they’re barely rock sometimes. But damn if they don’t make catchy, great-sounding music. Five albums in all over the span of sixteen years. Not exactly prolific, but always strong and unwavering in their quality. Though I still really hate the cover of the Father of the Bride album. That all said, I had no idea what to expect from their live show. I know, listening to Koenig’s radio show, Time Crisis, that he and his buds are into The Dead. Which worried me a little bit. Were we in for a jammy wank fest? Or a sloppy, stone-y song-along?
Well, before we could find out we got to listen to Koenig’s reunited high school band, Sophisticuffs. A great band name, if I’m being honest. The band itself? Well, it was high school. There’s a song called “Great Expectations.” Based on the book Great Expectations. And the lyrics consist of exactly two words: “Great” and “Expectations.” Until, that is, they utter once: “Better than good expectations.” Not exactly high art, despite its rather nerdy literary basis. Yes, it sounds a lot like your friend’s high school band, but you could hear little elements here and there of what was to become Vampire Weekend. Very little.
When they swapped bands, they kept up that big Vampire Weekend drape and started to play in front of it. A small, paired-down trio setup. And I could instantly feel my disappointment spike. I mean, I’m sure they’ll somehow make that work, but I was hoping for more orchestration. More sound. More of everything. But, perhaps, they didn’t want to dedicate a full band to this weirdo New Jersey jaunt. In retrospect, I was just being an idiot. Because they moved behind the curtain after one song, it fell and they launched into a full-throated, eight or nine-piece explosion. Including double drum sets (which I now feel like every band should employ), a sax, a violin, guitars, bass, organ and whatever other kind of wackiness was going on. The first couple of minutes honestly made me grin like a total fanboy geek. It was pretty exhilarating.
Let me tell you, Vampire Weekend can put on a show. I had no idea. They sounded great. The songs really brought the energy and the sold-out crowd was really into it, especially for a Tuesday night. This four-night residency was a really cool idea. Playing your hometown(ish) venue must be really exciting, I would imagine. So much so that Hipster Jr. even released an entire hip-hop album, Wellmont, about his high school dream of someday playing The Wellmont — his hometown venue mere blocks from Casa del Hipster. Meanwhile, my guitars sit upstairs silent except for the occasional smattering of barre and power chords kept all to myself. It’s better that way. But they go for it. And it was really damn fun. It is pretty awesome being surprised every once in a while. And I will say that this was one of those times. Dude in some khakis and an oxford putting together some great music with buddies from college and a group of incredibly talented musicians. Ms. Hipster, a multi-instrumentalist herself (including violin), marveled at their violinist’s jaw-dropping skill. And, yes, it isn’t always rip roaring mosh pit type music, but it’s inspiring nonetheless.
I have no idea if the band put some extra oomph into it because they were local or if this is the typical energy they bring to their shows, but I would highly recommend going to see them if you’re a fan. Or even if you just enjoy professional, complex tunes. They do this goofy thing at the end of the show after their encore, which is really endearing, where they stand there and take requests from the audience — not of their songs but of any song in any genre. It’s kind of a little Vampire Weekend karaoke and shows their wide breadth of ability and understanding of music. Also their chill, laid back approach to entertaining and connecting with a crowd. It was a really fun night, and I hope they come back to NJ at some point in the next decade. Or ever. After all, we’re only twelve miles west of Manhattan and Ezra and his wife, Rashida Jones, can crash at mom and dad’s house and practically walk to the venue.
